As guests of honor at IMM Köln 2012, Doshi Levien reimagined the idea of ‘house’ in an astonishing and vibrant installation — Das Haus. Inspired by cities that team with life like Tokyo or Mumbai and houses that develop over time, absorbing different identities and influences, it is ultimately an optimistic vision for the future.

In addition to the graphic identity and suite of printed artecfacts, we designed a screen wall that is an exploded hologram. Constructed from 5 layers of transparent polycarbonate, each layer is painted with different elements, that when brought together, connect the ideas and cultures of ‘bathing’, ‘kitchen’ and ‘workshop’ as vital organs of Das Haus. Like day-dreaming through a window, or opening the back of some complex mechanism, it is filled with fragments of knowledge, technology, tools and skills. It threw beautiful complicated dimensional shadows into the house, revealing aspects that were not easily discerned by looking at the wall directly. From the outside, it created glimpses of the jewel-like colours of their astonishing furniture and interior, with the movement of people inside causing the different layers of shapes to animate. In one corner is an x-ray of the feet of Doshi Levien’s son, Rahul.